“No, I imagine this shook her up. Tell her I’m sorry about this. I married a woman from Muellerville. It’s a nice little town but everyone there is stirred up about that senior living thing. I went along with it, but no land deal is worth a person’s life.” The officer took several pictures with his phone. “Here’s my card. If you see that truck again, don’t do anything yourself, just give us a call. That’s what we’re here for.”
“Thanks, Officer.” Rhett shook his hand. “What you just said. About the land deal. We have a list of local Muellerville investors and you’re on it. How do you feel about Sierra holding out on Oxcart?”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He looked toward the shop. “So that’s why Sierra’s hiding in the kolache shop. That list of investors is supposed to be confidential.”
“I know. But you should realize that in the age of the internet, confidentiality is almost impossible.” Rhett was very aware of how dark the parking lot was and that he’d put his gun back in the console. The patrolman had a big gun on his hip. Now Rhett was being paranoid. So far the man had been sympathetic and reasonable.
“Let me tell you what I think. Call me Ray.” He leaned against the Tahoe.
“Okay, Ray. I’m Rhett. I’ll tell you this: we have no idea how much you invested or what happens to your money if this deal falls through.”
“It’s like this. My wife Annie runs the local beauty shop, the Twist and Curl. Sierra goes there. That’s why she recognized me and took off. Anyway, in a small town like Muellerville, the beauty shop is a hub of gossip.” He laughed. “I come home and get an earful. Brother, I just tune it out. Though I have heard of a crime or two and passed it on to the bosses.”
“Interesting.” Rhett was fascinated, but he really wanted Ray to get to the point.
“Those Oxcart people came to town and started buying up land. They set up an office with Joey Schlitzberger—he and his dad are lawyers, though the old man is retired now. Joey claimed you could buy in to this senior development for a small amount and earn big bucks once it was finished. Well, you can imagine it was a hot topic in the beauty shop. My woman was determined to get in on that investment opportunity. I’d been saving for a new bass boat and had a nice chunk of change put away toward it.” He frowned. “You fish?”
“I have a time or two.” Rhett hadn’t, but he wasn’t about to discourage this story. “I imagine there’s good fishing around here.”
“You bet. Anyway, she wore me down. I finally agreed to invest my bass boat money in this Oxcart deal. The contract, and there was a contract, said we’d put in our money and we would own a certain percentage of the profits. Oxcart even promised to buy back our shares if the development hadn’t broken ground within a certain time frame.” Ray looked around as if noticing the light rain had stopped. He took off his hat and hit it on his khaki pants. “Practically risk-free, don’t you think?”
“What’s the time frame?” Rhett hadn’t heard anything about this. No wonder the threats were escalating.
“It’s about to run out. I’d say we have less than a month or Oxcart is going to have to return our money, with interest.” Ray put on his hat again. “Now, the interest rate is pitiful, less than two percent, but then it is everywhere these days. I’m not too worried about it. Even if the deal falls through, which it seems like it’s going to with Sierra refusing to sell her land, I’m still looking at buying that boat. The wife can just give up her dream of living rich and having her own string of beauty shops. Annie doesn’t know squat about running a big business anyway.” Ray chuckled, sure he had it all figured out.
“Thanks, Ray. You’ve been a big help. I don’t want to worry you, but—” Rhett didn’t like what he was thinking. “What do you know about Oxcart? Does it make sense that they could just walk away from this great deal and then return your money with interest? How could a company afford to do that?”
“Joey said it’ll be all right.” Ray rubbed his forehead. “Annie went to high school with him. I know he put some money in it himself. He must think this is a good deal.”
Rhett nodded. “That was probably when everyone thought Sierra would just roll over and sell her land. But unfortunately that’s not happening. I’ll just put this idea out there. Don’t be surprised if Oxcart starts making noise about Chapter 11 or some other bankruptcy dodge to get out of paying creditors.”
“Well, shit!” Ray put his hand on his gun. “Joey said it would make us all rich. He pushed it hard. Some people even took out loans so they could invest.” He narrowed his gaze toward the glass doors. “Sierra’s dead set against selling?”
“We’ve been doing our own investigating. Oxcart is a shady company. Even if she sold, you have no guarantee those people would do what they said with your money. They’ve let down investors in New Mexico and Arizona before, regular people like you. You should check into that.” Rhett stepped back toward the shop as if to put himself between Ray and Sierra. Foolish. Surely the officer wouldn’t go after her with his gun. But then this land deal had clearly made people desperate.
“I’m going to see Joey Schlitzberger in the morning. He’d better have something to say about this. He was right there with the Oxcart people, urging us on, saying we could trust them. They had slick brochures, maps. Well, I’ll be damned!” Ray kicked the wet gravel then straightened. “I stand by what I said, though. No land deal is worth what’s going on with Sierra now. I’ll be watching for that truck. Wish I had a license number, but that damage won’t be easy to hide.” He scanned the highway but there was still little traffic. “Land deals. What the hell was I thinking?” He took one more look back at the kolache shop. “I could use a coffee but don’t want to make Sierra uncomfortable. You tell her no hard feelings here. Okay?”
“Sure. I hope it all shakes out all right.” Rhett shook the man’s hand.
“You be careful, you hear?” The officer’s radio squawked. “Got to go.”
“I hear. Good luck, Ray.” Rhett watched the officer stalk to his patrol car then peel out of the lot. The man was pissed. He felt sorry for whoever broke the law in Ray’s vicinity in the next few hours.
“He’s gone?” Sierra approached with coffee in a Styrofoam cup and a white paper bag.
“Yep. And he just got a reality check. Wait till you hear what I learned about an old boyfriend of yours.” Rhett opened the bag. Apple something, kind of like a danish. He took a bite and smiled. “Kolache. Who knew? From now on, I’m stopping at every place with a kolache sign. And I’ve seen a lot of them around Austin.”
“Yes, they’re Czech. Czechs and Germans settled around Austin a long time ago.” She walked around the car and climbed in. “Let’s go. I want to hear all about what Ray said. Am I going to be able to get my hair cut in Muellerville ever again?”
Rhett chewed and swallowed then got behind the wheel. “Doubt it.” He leaned over and kissed her. Mmm. She’d had strawberry. “But I like long hair anyway.” He got hit on his arm for that one. Didn’t matter, he was smiling. They had more information and the highway patrol was on the job.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was a relief to finally get to the hospital. Sierra stopped Rhett in the lobby after they got Marty’s room number.
“I need to check on Darrel first.”
“Even after it seems apparent that he burned down your barn?” Rhett stood in front of the bank of elevators. “But then I’m not surprised. You’re a caring person.”
“How do you know I’m not going to cover his face with a pillow?” Sierra quickly looked around. She shouldn’t have said that quite so loudly. “I think he also poisoned my cattle and tried to get me to fall into a hole.”
“When you put it like that, what floor is the bastard on?” Rhett slid his arm around her. “I’ll watch the door for you.”
Sierra patted his hand. “Except the sheriff insists we don’t have any real proof that Darrel
did any of that. I’m holding off judgment until Dylan finds out if significant payments show up in Darrel’s Oklahoma account.” The elevator had arrived. “Let’s go. I know the floor for intensive care. And, yes, I’m worried about Darrel. He did work for me for three years.”
By the time they made it to intensive care, Sierra had a bad case of déjà vu. Oh, yes, she knew this floor. The memories made her stomach churn and even the sounds were like a waking nightmare. They’d hit the right time for visiting. Things had relaxed since the days when only family could see a patient. They walked into the open area and stopped at the nurses’ station.
“We’re here to check on Darrel Lockhart. Is he up to seeing visitors?” Sierra was using Rhett’s philosophy of “act like you belong here.”
The nurse looked grim as she consulted a chart. “He’s still unconscious. I hope you’re next of kin. We haven’t been able to locate any family.”
“No, as far as we know, Darrel doesn’t have any family. I’m his employer.” Sierra swallowed a rising nausea. Still unconscious. That could mean anything. “How is he doing?”
“He’s over here.” The nurse walked them to a curtained cubicle. “He looks pretty bad but he’s better now than when he came in.” She smiled. “You can talk to him. We feel that unconscious patients can hear us. Still, don’t stay long. He’s scheduled for more tests soon. We’re monitoring his brain activity.”
“But he has some?” Rhett asked that.
“Yes, yes he does.” The nurse pulled back the curtain.
Sierra gasped. Poor Darrel looked like a mummy. His head was so wrapped only his eyes and a slit for his mouth showed. There were tubes everywhere. He was on a ventilator. She glanced at his heart monitor, and it looked erratic to her. But then what did she know? Her daddy always said she’d just upset herself when she’d been on one and tried to figure out those blips and beeps.
“Is he going to live?” She forced out the question. “He looks bad.”
“Like I said, he seems to be improving slightly. Holding his own.” The nurse left them when an alarm sounded from the nurses’ station. “Just a few minutes, please.”
“You okay?” Rhett had his hand under her elbow. “Do you need to sit down?” He seemed to be looking for a chair. But the room, if you could call it that, was crowded with medical equipment.
“I can’t breathe. I have to get out of here.” Sierra hated herself for that. She jerked away from Rhett and almost ran to the double doors to the hall, looking frantically for the restroom. Thank God! It was close and she bolted for it. Inside, she sat on the toilet and put her head between her knees.
“Here.” Rhett came in and wet a paper towel at the sink. “Put this on your face. You’re pale as paper.”
“Thanks. You shouldn’t be in the ladies’ room.” Sierra slapped the towel over her eyes and leaned over again. It did help.
“This restroom is unisex. Plus, I’d like to see someone keep me out when you look like that. What happened?” He knelt in front of her.
“I don’t know. Hospital anxiety. Seeing Darrel like that. Our near miss a little while ago. It all hit me at once.” She raised her head and thought how she must look—hair wet around the edges and makeup long gone. Why did Rhett bother with her? Most men would have hit the road by now.
“I’m going to ask the nurse for a cup of cold water. Stay here and breathe.” He took off.
Sierra did just that. In and out, calming down. She had dropped her purse next to her feet. But she didn’t have the energy to root around for a brush or lipstick. Looking sickly in a hospital was almost right and proper. Hah! She was going to have to pull herself together.
The door opened, and Rhett handed her a plastic cup of water. “Drink this. I explained to the nurse that you were overcome with emotion, seeing your good friend so helpless. I’m sure that was part of your reaction.”
Sierra drank, and the cold water felt good going down. “Yes, you’re probably right. Now let’s go see Marty. That is why we came.” She took his hand and wobbled to her feet. “I’ll be fine. Just needed a little meltdown. Hospitals. What can I say?”
“Say you’re okay.” He brushed her hair back from her face. He still looked concerned.
“I’m okay.” She pressed him toward the door. “Thank you. Most men wouldn’t have handled this so well.”
“I hope you’ve put me in the category of not-most-men by now.” He kissed her cheek then pulled her into the hall.
Sierra held on to his hand. Oh, yes, she’d definitely done that. She didn’t even mind letting him take the lead as they headed downstairs.
Marty looked like hell. She had puffy eyes with a bruise and stitches on her forehead. When they pushed open the door, she flinched, as if afraid of whoever might come in next.
Sierra hoped that reaction didn’t include her. She was relieved when she got a smile from someone she’d always considered a friend.
“Sierra! Oh, the writer is still with you?” Marty held out her hands.
Sierra gripped them for a moment. “Yes, you remember Rhett Hall. He drove me here and is staying in this room while we talk. I hope you don’t mind.” Sierra could see Marty jumping to her own conclusions. “He’s been helping me, since it seems people will stop at nothing to persuade me to sell my land.”
“Oh.” Marty clutched her bedding. “I guess you’re talking about your barn being burned down. Terrible. Myra was here and told me they suspect arson.”
“That’s not all that’s happened. You asked to see me. Is it to talk about your car wreck and chasing Darrel? Or did the sheriff bring up my accident all those years ago when I was barrel racing?” Sierra stood close to the bed. She watched Marty’s face closely for any sign that she was hiding something. The little wrinkle that appeared between her brows could mean anything.
“Yes, she brought it up. Which I tell you shocked the hell out of me. I couldn’t believe you wanted to ask me about that. After all these years and what I just went through?” Marty gestured at her forehead. “I’ve got a killer headache and now I’m supposed to remember what happened then? I couldn’t believe Myra even cares about that with everything else going on.”
“I unloaded on her, Marty. It’s important to me. You can imagine why.” Sierra wondered if Marty was really that surprised or if she was avoiding a straight answer. “But you asked to see me, so you must have something to say.”
“Yes! To leave it alone. It was a horrible accident. Ages ago. I don’t know where you got your crazy theory. Do you actually think Sally Ann would tamper with your saddle?” Marty frowned. “Come on, Sierra. That’s outrageous. Everyone knew she was dying to beat you in those races, but to do something like that to win? She’d have to be insane.” She shook her head. “I sure as hell wouldn’t know anything about it if she did do something so crazy.”
“Why did you and Ellie pull me outside that day? Looking back, the timing seems suspicious.”
“Oh, come on!” Those puffy eyes flashed. “Neither Ellie nor I were ever into horses. We were there to watch you two race. Then we helped you out because of your crush on Will. He was all you could talk about. Remember?”
“Yes, we’d had a couple of dates.” Sierra could almost hear Rhett growl.
“Exactly. So when someone told us he was looking for you outside—I honestly don’t remember who—we figured we’d drag you out there. How the hell did we know it was almost race time? You were free to say you couldn’t come with us.” Marty flushed. “Truth be told, either Ellie or I would have been happy to ride around with Will in his new Camaro. He was hot and rich, dream boyfriend material. We should have just gone out to meet him by ourselves.”
Sierra heard Rhett snort at that dream boyfriend comment. “I get it, Marty. So Sally Ann didn’t ask you to get me out of the way?”
“No, not that I remember. Have you ever confronted her about this?
Do it. Because no one was more upset about your accident than Sally Ann and her mother. You should have seen them. Sally Ann was so broken up she could hardly accept her winning trophy that day. Then she and her mother made sure your horse got back to the ranch and checked out by your vet. They also collected all your stuff at the arena and took it back to your place.” Marty looked very earnest.
Sierra had no doubt Marty was telling the truth as she knew it. “Rachel and Sally Ann took charge of my tack?”
“Yes! Someone had to do it. Your family was at the hospital and in no condition to worry about details like that. I thought it was really great that Rachel and Sally Ann took care of everything. It wasn’t easy to get your horse calmed down and into a trailer. You had a lot of crap in your stall, even little things like your lucky stuffed horse. You remember that?”
Sierra blinked. Lucky. The poor ragged thing had slept with her until she’d started riding in competitions. Then he’d gone with her to the races. It was the only thing Daddy hadn’t burned. Someone, probably Rachel, had put it in her room after that race. The weight of Rhett’s hand on hers felt reassuring and helped her hold it together.
“Go on, Marty. Anything else you remember about that day? Naturally Sierra was out of it. The fall is the last thing she’s clear about.” Rhett’s hand slid up to her neck. “She needs to have as many details as you can supply.”
“We helped Sally Ann get it all together. She just couldn’t stop crying. I think seeing you fall like that made a big impression on her. She quit racing not long after that.” Marty kept her eyes on Rhett. “We found out a month or two later that she was pregnant. That could account for how emotional she was. You know she’s usually tough as nails, like she was at the ranch when Sierra had that gun aimed at her. If she’d fallen back then, she would have lost her baby even sooner. That was a terrible year for Sally Ann.”
Texas Reckless Page 23
